Clock



March 6, 1934. c. A. PARKER 1,949,942

CLOCK Filed April 25, 1932 2 SheetsSheet 1 Frc; .1.

March 6, 1934. c. PARKER 1,949,942

CLOCK Filed April 25, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Mar. 6, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CLOCK Charles A. Parker, Knoxville, Tenn.

Application April 25, 1932, Serial No. 607,402

8 Claims. (01. 58125) The present invention relates to clocks, and A suitable clock works 9 is mounted within particularly to clocks in which numerals placed the casing 1 and the minute dial 6 is secured on a n rotatable dials are used to indicate the time in shaft 10 driven from the minute hand arbor of lieu of the usual hands. the clock work so as to rotate once every hour, said I The invention in certain respects is an improveshaft extending through the back of the casing ment on the clock disclosed in my prior patent No. and being provided with a knurled setting knob 1,851,982, April 5, 1932. 11. The hour dial is secured on the forward It is an object of the present invention to proend of a shaft 12 which may also be journalled in vide a dial type clock with an improved signal clock works 9.

mechanism to indicate that the hour has changed A crown wheel or disk 13 secured on the shaft and which will appear as part of the minute dial. 12 in back of the dial 5 has twelve circumferen- Another object of the invention is to provide tially disposed equally spaced pins 14 projecting positive means for locking the hour dial against rearwardly therefrom, and a dog 15 pivoted as at accidental rotation. 16 on the clock works 9 is provided with a notch 16 Another object is to provide a positive stop to 17 in one end thereof to engage one of the pins prevent overthrow of the hour dial. 14 to lock the wheel and dial in position against Still another object of the invention is to prorotation The notch 17 is so formed as to provide a construction in which the hour dial will duce a bill or projection 18 which will prevent be easily and rapidly moved forward at the hour forward movement of the pins and a curved edge 20 change and to free the hour dial from all external or shoulder 19 which will lock the pin against friction at the start of its forward movement. reverse movement. Thus, then one of the pins A further object of the invention is to provide 14 is lodged in the notch 1'7, it will be impossible means for rapidly setting the hour dial independto rotate the crown wheel 13 and dial 5 in either ently of the minute dial. direction without raising the dog to release the A still further object of the invention is to pin.

provide an improved form of alarm control mech- A lever 20, pivoted as at 21 to a plate 22 caranism. ried by the clock works has the upper edge of the Other objects and advantages of the invention free end thereof bent down to form a ledge or Will beeeme pp during the COH SB 0f t flange 23 substantially at right angles to the 30 following detailed description When ad i 00 plane of the lever and has the lower edge thereof junction with the accompanying drawings, in bent rearwardly at an angle of about 45 to the which: plane of the lever and ledge as at 24 to produce Figure 1 is a front elevation o the Clock Casi a slanting lower face which will ride over the with the positions of the dials shown by dotted ends of the pins 14 and cause a flexing of the 35 lines; lever 20 when the latter is depressed.

Figure 2 is a top plan view with the upper part The lever 20 is moved in one direction by a of the casing in section; cam 25 secured on the shaft 10, said cam engag- Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view on the line ing a pin 26 carried by said lever, and the lever 3-3 of Figure 2; is moved in the opposite direction by a spring 40 Figure 4 is a perspective View Of the 110111 27, said cam being formed to release the pin 26 Change Signal; at the expiration of each hour to permit the Figure 5 S a perspective view of a detail of the spring 27 to move the lever to the position shown 110111 advancing and Signal Operating mec a s in Figure 3 wherein the parts are shown immeand diately after the hour change has occurred. 45 Figur 6 i a side eleva ion f h locking d The dog 15 is formed with a flange 28 along its for the hour dial. lower edge with which the flange 23 of the lever Referring to the drawings in ail, the case 1, 20 contacts when the lever is swung upward by Whieh y be of y desired design 1 Shape is the spring 2'7, thereby moving the dog against provided With a Window Opening 2 for p g the action of spring 30 to a position to release 50 numerals on the faces of the hour and minute the pin 14 and permit the flange 23 to engage dials 5 and respectively- The case i o prO- the pin and advance the dial 5 one step. As the vided with a pointer-shaped opening 7 which flange 23 rides off of the flange 28, the dog will acts as an index for the. numerals on the minute he released and under the action of spring 30 dial and exposes the numerals on the second will engage the next pin 14, as seen in Figure 3,

55 dial 8. thereby preventing overthrow or accidental rotation of the dial and also locating the numeral on the face of the dial in correct position in the window 2.

When the lever 20 is moved downwardly by the rotation of the cam 25, the slanting under face of the end portion 24 will ride over the pin 14 engaged in the notch 17 thereby flexing the lever 20, and when the end has cleared the pin, the flexibility of the lever will cause the end to spring back under the pin so that the flange 23 will be in position to release the dog 15 and advance the dial upon return movement when released by the cam as above set forth.

It will be understood that the cam 25 is so formed and timed with relation to the minute dial that it depresses the lever 20 during the hour and releases it just as the minute dial completes each revolution.

In order to provide for the rapid advance of the hour dial independently of the minute dial when setting the clock, a lever 31 pivoted at 32 on the plate 22 has a right angled extension 33 extending through the back of the case 1 by which the lever may be swung about the pivot 32 against the action of a spring 34. A slotted reciprocable plate 35 is mounted on studs 36 carried by the plate 22 and carries a plate 3'? having a slot 38 in which operates a pin 39 carried by the lever 31 to effect reciprocation of said plate 35 reverse movements of the extension 33.

A pivoted finger 40, normally urged by spring 41 against a stop 42 is carried by the plate 35 and is so shaped that upon downward movement of the plate, the finger will contact the end of the dog 15 and swing away from normal position so as to clear the dog and pin 14 whereupon the finger will be moved by the spring 41 back to normal position and upon upward movement of the plate 35 will act to release the dog 15 and advance the hour dial one step. Thus, by quickly moving the extension 33 of the lever 31 up and down, the hour dial may be quickly advanced independently of the minute dial.

In order to provide for an adequate and attractive signal to indicate the hour change an arm 43 journalled on the shaft 10 behind the minute dial 6 has a reverse portion in the form of an enlarged offset end portion 44 bent over in front of the minute dial and formed at its forward edge with the figure zero. A spring hook 45 carried by the arm 43 bears lightly against the edge of the minute dial 6 and engages a shoulder 46 on the periphery of the dial when the signal is projected into the window opening 2 at the advance of each hour as will now be described.

A short lever arm 47 secured fast to the arm 43 is also journalled on the shaft 10 and has a portion of its lower edge shaped exactly the same as small part 48 of the cam 25 and is normally urged to swing in a counter-clockwise direction by a spring 49. The lower edge of the lever 47 rests against the stud 26 of the lever 20 so that as the cam 25 rotates to depress the lever 20, the arm 43 and zero signal will be caused to move out of the window 2 at exactly the same rate as the speed of rotation. of the minute dial. In this connection it will be noted that the minute dial will not be provided with a zero figure, this being supplied by the Zero carried by the arm 43.

When the cam 25 releases the lever 29 to advance the hour dial one step as heretofore described, it will be evident that the stud 26 will through its engagement with the lever 47 swing the arm 43 to a position to place the numeral zero in the window 2 and engage the hook 45 with the shoulder 46 to insure proper alinement with the remainder of the dial.

The improved alarm control mechanism comprises an arm 50 extending across the back of the clock works and pivoted at one end to a bracket 51 carried by the rear plate 52 of the clock work casing and normally urged by a. contracting spring 53 to swing about the pivot 54 toward the front of easing l. The arm 50 at its free end is bent forwardly as at 55 and then reversed to form a hooked end 56 which normally engages the alarm hammer 57 of the clock. The end of the lever 50 is held in engagement with the hammer 57 against the action of the spring 53 by a pair of dial members 58 and 59 journalled on the rearwardly projecting ends of the minute and hour shafts 10 and 12 respectively and held from rotation by friction springs 60 mounted upon the plate 52, said springs engaging the toothed periphery of said dials and permitting manual rotation thereof in one direction, said dials being formed with suitable collars or bushings 61 and 62 respectively which project through openings in the rear of the casing 1 and constitute setting knobs.

The dials 58 and 59 are maintained in position to hold the arm 50 in alarm engaging position by cams 63 and 64 carried by collars 65 and 66 secured on shafts 10 and 12 respectively, said cams engaging bosses 67 and 68 formed with the respective dials 58 and 59. In order to release the alarm, the bosses 58 and 59 are each provided with a cam notch 69, which allows for axial movement of said dials under action of spring pressed arm 50 when said cams 63 and 64 enter said notches.

It will readily be seen that since the hour shaft 12 makes only one revolution every twelve hours, the dial 59 may be set so that the cam 64 will engage the notch 69 at any hour up to 11 hours from the time of setting, thus although the cam 63 will release the dial 58 once each hour on the minute set, the hour alarm dial 59 will hold the arm 50 in alarm engaging position until the particular hour selected has been reached, then when the selected minute elapses the minute alarm dial 58 will release the alarm hammer 57 and the alarm wil sound.

The dials 58 and 59 will be provided with suitable indicia visible through openings in the rear of the casing so as to indicate the time for which the alarm is set- While preferred embodiments of the various features of the invention have been illustrated and described, it will be understood that various modifications in the details of construction and operation may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a dial clock having a driven minute shaft and an hour shaft advanced step by step by a spring actuated lever controlled by a cam on said minute shaft; a signal arm journalled on said minute shaft and having a portion thereof hearing on said lever whereby to impart motion to said signal arm upon movement of said actuting lever.

2. In a dial clock having a minute dial and an hour dial, a casing having a window for exposing portions of said dials, means for rotating said minute dial, a lever operable to advance said hour dial step by step upon the completion of each revolution of said minute dial, an arm carrying a signal movable into said window in advance of said minute dial, said arm having a portion contacting said lever so as to move said signal into said window upon actuation of said lever to advance said hour dial and to permit movement of said signal from said window at the same rate of speed as said minute dial.

3. In a dial type clock, a minute dial, an hour dial, a clock works for rotating said minute dial, a crown wheel rotatable with said hour dial, a pivoted dog engaging said crown wheel and operative to lock the same against rotation in either direction, a pivoted lever having a portion operative upon movement in one direction to disengage the dog from the crown wheel and to advance said wheel one step, said lever having an angular portion adapted to ride over said dog and crown wheel and fieX said lever laterally upon return movement thereof, spring means for moving said lever in a direction to advance said wheel, and means rotatable with said minute dial for returning said lever against the action of said spring means.

4. In a dial type clock, a minute dial, an hour dial, a clock works for rotating said minute dial, a crown wheel rotatable with said hour dial, a pivoted dog engaging said crown wheel and operative to lock the same against rotation in either direction, a pivoted lever having a portion operative upon movement in one direction to disengage the dog from the crown wheel and to advance said wheel one step, said lever having an angular portion adapted to ride over said dog and crown wheel and flex said lever upon return movement thereof, spring means for moving said lever in a direction to advance said wheel, means rotatable with said minute dial for returning said lever against the action of said spring means, and a manually reciprocable plate having means operative upon movement of said plate in one direction for releasing said dog and advancing said crown wheel step by step independently of said lever.

5. In a dial type clock, a minute dial and an hour dial, a clock work for rotating said minute dial, a pivoted dog normally locking said hour dial against rotation means operative in timed relation with said minute dial for releasing said dog and advancing said hour dial step by step, and manually reciprocable plate having means operative upon movement of said plate in one direction for releasing said dog and advancing said crown wheel step by step independently of said lever.

6. In a dial clock having a minute dial and an hour dial, a casing having a window for exposing portions of said dials, means for rotating said minute dial, a lever operable to advance said hour dial step by step upon the completion of each revolution of said minute dial, and arm carrying a signal movable into said window in advance of said minute dial, said arm having a portion contacting said lever so as to move said signal into said window upon actuation of said lever to advance said hour dial and to permit movement of said signal from said Window at the same rate of speed as said minute dial, and spring means for normally urging said signal arm to a position to remove said signal from said window.

7. In a dial type clock, a minute dial and an hour dial, a clock work for rotating said minute dial, means for normally locking said hour dial against rotation, means operative in timed relation with said minute dial for releasing said looking means and advancing said hour dial step by step, and a manually reciprocable plate having means for releasing said locking means and for advancing said hour dial independently of said minute dial and said first mentioned advancing means.

8. In a dial clock having a minute dial and an hour dial, a casing having a window for exposing portions of said dials, means for rotating said minute dial, means operable to advance said hour dial upon the completion of each revolution of said minute dial, a signal movable into said window in advance of said minute dial upon operation of said hour dial advancing means, and means for temporarily locking said signal to said minute dial for movement from said window at the same rate of speed as said minute dial.

CHARLES A. PARKER.

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